Elkridge Man Sets Trailer Home On Fire With People Inside: Police

ELKRIDGE, MD — Howard County police have charged an Elkridge man with attempted murder after he set his trailer home on fire with two other people inside March 17. No one was injured.

Brener Alfredo Mendoza-Mendez, 31, has been charged with attempted first- and second-degree murder; first- and second-degree arson; first- and second-degree assault; and reckless endangerment. He also is charged with animal cruelty as a pet dog died in the fire. He is being held without bond at the Howard County Detention Center.

The Howard County Department of Fire & Rescue Services spent an hour extinguishing the trailer home fire, which was located in the 8000 block of Joetta Drive. Police found a woman outside the trailer who reported that she and a 5-year-old child had evacuated the trailer when the fire broke out.

Police determined that Mendoza-Mendez was renting a room in the trailer and a witness saw him pouring a liquid inside the home then setting it on fire. It was later discovered that the liquid was gasoline.

The Red Cross assisted four adults and two children who had been living at the residence and were
displaced by the fire.